A Better

Miter Saw

Stand

BY ROBERT W. LANG

Is it the saw or where the saw lives that increases your accuracy?

38 ■ Popular Woodworking October 2007

^^^^ere are two types of miter saws. The first can be a mainstay in the woodshop, dependably making accurate crosscuts day in and day out. Or it can be a cantankerous helper, needing constant attention and delivering inconsistent results. The difference usually isn't in the saw; it is where the saw lives in the shop - how it is set up, the table it sits on and the fence and stop.

Miter saws were designed to be portable, taken to a job site and moved often. In many shops, the miter saw is still treated as a visitor, not a permanent resident. This makes sense if you're just setting up shop, or often move your tools to share space. If, however, you have the room, a fixed location is preferred.

In our shop, our miter saw has floated around for several years on a mobile cart with folding tables. We still have a limited amount of space, but we assessed our needs, the way we work and the way we share our shop, and a permanent miter saw workstation was at the top of our list of shop upgrades.

Meeting of the Minds

I met with the other editors and we talked about how we use the saw and what our expectations were. And we listed the things we didn't like about the old setup. We planned a new stand and decided to concentrate on the important things, leave the bells and the whistles for someone else to add, and keep to a tight budget.

The two main tasks our saw faces are breaking down rough lumber at the beginning of a project and then making precise, repeated cuts after the lumber has been milled. Most saws on the market today are capable of being very precise with one big "if." Tossing rough lumber around can knock a wimpy saw stand out of whack with the first piece of 8 /4 hardwood that comes its way, so the first requirement is strength and stability.

But this strength needs to be focused and refined. The alignment of tables and fences needs to be right on - and stay that way - or the saw is useless for precise work.

At least nine out of 10 cuts we make are with the bulk of the material to the left of the saw blade. We decided to trade some flexibility for precision and build a solid stand to the left of the saw. To the right of the blade is a rolling stand that's the same height as the saw to hold material and to give some support when we need it.

Pulling Out the Stops

The final point we agreed on was a stop system. We use stops on a regular basis to cut multiple parts to an exact length. We needed a simple and easy way to add a stop when we needed one. We also decided that it's hard to beat a block of wood and a clamp (especially on the price).

LEAD PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY jANE FAVORITE